Transcripts For MSNBCW The 20240703

Tourists taking photos that are analyzed by ai. And good morning to you all, so researchers can help life underwater flourish. Im katie phang. If youre just turning into msnbc, we are continuing our breaking News Coverage of israel. Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared a state of war after what is being called the worst attack there in 50 years. Palestinian Militant Group hamas launching an allout assault by land, air, and sea overnight. A spokeswoman for israels embassy in washington d. C. Has told nbc news that at least three israeli villages in Southern Israel are now controlled by hamas. She also says that there are multiple israeli civilians, including women and children, who have been kidnapped and are now inside gaza. His real Natural Service says that at least 22 people have been killed and hundreds more wounded. Dozens of Israeli Defense forces fighters have reportedly struck a number of targets belonging to the hamas targets organization in the gaza strip. A white house official says the Biden Ministration is quote aware engaged on israel. Linus from germany, france, and the European Union have released statements condemning the attacks and voicing their solidarity with israel. Getting us started in this hour and joining me now with more. John brennan, former cia director, msnbc Senior National Security Intelligence analyst as well. Hes the author of undaunted, my fight against americas enemies at home and abroad. John, thank you for getting a start at the 8 00 hour. I mean, considering the relations between United States and israel, what does this attack by hamas mean. Well katie, clearly the scale, the scope, the impact of these attacks has been nothing short of breath taken. The fact that hamas is been able to demonstrate almost an unprecedented amount of preparation, coordination, training for this and then a very shocking sense that Israeli Intelligence was not able to detect it on such a auspicious anniversary as the 50th Anniversary of the 73 war. I think what the night states is doing right now is trying to provide to israel whatever type of additional intelligence we might have about any followup plans that hamas has, provide them any type of assistance that they need, but that clearly this is still ongoing. Its still very much a hot battle that is going on, and the fact that the hamas forces were able to come across the border into israel and, as you pointed, out of control some villages there, it just shows how ill prepared the israelis were for something of this scale. And so i think what netanyahu and others are going to be doing is trying to find out again who is behind this. Is there any nonpalestinian actors that have abetted in support of this effort, because the 2200 rockets, that is a vast accumulation of rockets. The fact that they use hand gliders to come into israeli territory another taking captives. So this i think is going to be with us for a while and i think that netanyahu who traditionally is had a very traditional posture when these things happen, i think that this is going to implicate that we are going to have a very forceful israeli response once they do whatever they can in order to prevent further attacks coming out of the gaza strip. Yeah, and john we know that israel has already mobilized. As call that its a reserve forces to join the Israeli Defense for us to be able to respond. Obviously that is going on right now. There are gun battles that are happening on the ground in Southern Israel. We just talked about some of the villages that have been taken over by hamas. In the early hour last hour at 7 00 there was some discussion about some concerns of the northern border of israel. You have the iranbacked hezbollah on the northern border. We obviously have the gaza strip on the southern border. Do you share that as being a possible concern for israel at this time . Well i think that the israelis always have to be quite vigilant about what might happen on the northern border in hezbollah can effective strait some sympathy and support for hamas activities by launching some of their own attacks. But i also am very concerned about the west bank. Obviously, theres very deep militancy within the Gaza Strip My Palestinians who feel that their life is hopeless, but theres also a fair amount of militancy in the west bank that the israelis as well as the palestinian authorities have been able to keep at bay. But if this is going to go on and some type of protected manner that im sure theres going to be a number of palestinians who will be killed as a result of israeli actions there. That could trigger some adverse reaction on the part of the palestinians in the west bank. And they come to support them with the gaza strip. They have to be very concerned what is continue to come across and gaza. What might come across in the northern border. But also they have to keep a very very close eye on the west bank, which is far more populous in terms of the palestinian population. Theres so many jewish settlements throughout the west bank as well as the jerusalem area, so i think we have to be very mindful that there could be some follow on attacks that are going to be coming from that area as well. John, i also was asking last hour about the iron dome. Israels air defense system. Its one thats admired across the world. The United States itself indicating that its incredibly impressive. Are you just as surprised as others and youve indicated that it is kind of a stunning possible Intelligence Failure this Something Like the iron dome was not activated to be able to protect israel from at a minimum the missile attacks, the more than 2000 rockets that were launched into the country. Its minor standing that the iron dome was activated, but 2200 rockets in a short period of time is a lot for the iron dome to be able to prevent from being able to prevent the targets. So i know that the israelis have accepted a fair number of those rockets, but when they get through in the aimed at civilian targets, clearly with a number of dead as well as the Hundreds Of Israelis who have been injured as a result of these attacks, a lot of those rockets were able to get through and penetrate through the iron dome defense. But then also, these choirs that came in and brought in individuals who were engaged in gun battles, i mean this is a multi pronged attack taking place at a very important date, and also the sabbath. Im sure there are some relaxation as far as maybe security measures, but they should have in fact been at the height of their concern given that its the 50th Anniversary of the 73 war. But i think what israel is doing now is mobilizing obviously its reserve forces but also trying to bring to bear all of its capabilities, ground, air and also in the cyber realm to see whether or not they can prevent any further damage and death and injuries from these attacks. We heard from Mark Polymeropoulos in the last hour, john. Hes calling it israels 9 11, indicating that the Shock Surprise and the level of coordinated attack indicates that this is obviously going to historically be something that the country is reeling from from a while to come. Are you surprised by that level of coordination . We talked about the land, sea, and air attacks that were launched by hamas. The fact that it was done, a number of rockets 2000, the fact that no villages have been taken over by hamas in the southern portion of the country of israel. Yes, i am surprised that it was able to develop and this operation was able to mature to the extent that they were able to carry this out, and that the israelis were not able to disrupt it, because the israelis have a very very sophisticated and capable Intelligence Services that usually penetrate these hamas networks, are able to detect these activities before theyre actually brought into fruition, and the fact that this was so broad in scale taking place again in multiple domains, the fact that that was able to happen seems as though Israeli Intelligence was very much caught by surprise, because if they had picked up anything, i think they wouldve augmented their forces. They would have been able to prevent some of these attacks from taking place, particularly coming through the border area there between gaza and israel, which is very thin from the standpoint of infrastructure that prevents any types of encroachment by the palestinians. So clearly, there is a lot of explaining to do and there will be accountability. But i think at this point what the israelis are going to go into is full defense and offensive mode and be able to prevent the hamas forces from continuing to carry out. Because who knows what else they might have planned. And as i said there, there could be some other things that are going to be launched as a way to capitalize on what already has been a very very serious and unprecedented attack against israel. So calling this israels 9 11 i think is pretty apt because this is something that is just going to further embolden netanyahu to come down hard on the palestinians and unfortunately for the last 50 or more years, the palestinians certainly in the gaza strip feel as though they have not been able to advance their fortunes at all in terms of their economic development, Political Liberties and so on. And so that has fueled the forces of militancy in gaza that has led to these heinous attacks by these Hamas Terrorists. John brennan, former director of the cia and in this nbc Security Intelligence analysts, i thank you for being with us. And for more on this joining me now is congressman jim hines, Ranking Member of the House Intelligence Committee. Congressman, thank you for joining us this morning. I wanted to get your initial reaction to the news of this hamas attack. This sneak attack that has occurred Early Morning hours in israel. More than 2000 rockets there were large into the country, paragliders entering the country, and now weve learned that some villages in the southern part of israel are now occupied and be controlled by hamas. Yeah katie, its obviously a horrendous situation for the people of israel and for the world. This is a brutal, unprovoked attack. Reports are that hamas and other terrorists have taken israeli civilians hostage into gaza. Families, perhaps, which democrats the seriousness of the attack as well as the values of the attackers. And longer term as john barry was saying, Prime Minister netanyahu, his brand is about security and securing the safety of the israelis. And so the reaction that will come from the israelis will appropriately, and of course United States will stand with israel on this will be very very tough. And i think john brennan is right. There are a lot of questions about how an operation of this magnitude could be executed as a surprise, but i think that we are entering a period in which the violence is going to be intent he sort of ask yourself, what is the point . What was hamas trying to achieve here . Because it is almost certainly ending with their eradication in a great deal of suffering to the Palestinian People as well as israeli people as the israelis mobilize to rightly eradicate the [inaudible]. Lets talk about thirdparty actors. That is been a topic that has been raised since last hour since weve been covering this Breaking News. You have iran figuring prominently in this, and ive asked several of the professionals, those that have had experience that have all said consistently that it does not seem like hamas would be able to do this with this level of coordination, 2000plus rockets, et cetera without some type of thirdparty support. Your thoughts . Thirdparty the facts are sk, obviously at this point, but we do know that iran has been supporting, training, and arming hamas as well as any number of others groups that dedicated the destabilization of the region. Destabilizing the region and attacking israel is a core objective of iran, which is one of the many reasons that iran is a pariah state. You would like to believe that in the 21st century that would not be states that are dedicated to creating chaos and murderous violence around the world. Sadly, iran is one of the states that is. But this is a moment for iran. At the region changes, theres talk of an israeli saudi peace agreement. Who knows how these events affect that. But iran is increasingly hopefully going to be isolated in the region as a bad actor. And the iranian people need to think about whether that is a good outcome for their nation. And lets talk briefly about the move towards normalizing relations between israel and saudi arabia. Do you think that that has played some type of undercurrent into maybe what has happened today to israel . I think it is very possible. And of course, this is all speculative. Hamas is a murderous group, period. And so im not sure they necessarily need a catalyst to do the kinds of things that they have done this morning. But starting with the Abraham Accords in which the Persian Gulf Countries in a few african countries normalize relationships with israel, and now with the possibility of this israeli saudi peace, as i said, that isolates iran and it also probably raises questions for the palestinians. You know, are we now going to be out there on our own . And you would hope that most palestinians would say that in that context we should make a genuine effort and really stretch for peace. But that is obviously not what hamas wants or what they will do. My suspicion is that that played into their thinking in terms of the murderous attacks of this morning. It is the fact that we dont have a sitting ambassador in israel right now create any concerns on the part of the United States concerning what is happening right now in israel . It does, katie. And i travel the world quite a bit in my role of Ranking Member of the Intelligence Community and people dont appreciate exactly how bad it is when we dont have a ambassador in a country, and that is true everywhere. It is taken as an affront, and i might even expand this. This is not a moment to talk about u. S. Politics, but crises like this one, and we have been living with the Ukraine Russia worn out for coming on two years. Crises like this one remind us of the cost internationally of political gridlock, political chaos like in my workplace, in the u. S. House of representatives. Americans may not feel that, but the fact is that when our government in washington, certainly our legislature, is in chaos, it emboldens our enemies and a lot of bad actors. Theres many reasons that im sad about the chaos in the house of representatives. Well it doesnt make things easier for anybody. Internationally or domestically, we do have chaos. Congressman jim himes, i wanna thank you for joining us this morning. Thank you so much. Thank you katie. And msnbcs continuing coverage of this Breaking News will take place after we take a quick break. K. Do you mean this one the one with titanium . sean no way i can trade this busted up thing for one. jason maybe stealing wishes from the birthday boy is not your best plan switch to verizon and trade in any iphone and get the new iphone 15 pro on them. sean what . jason yup, and on an Amazing Network sean and i dont have to ruin anymore Birthday Parties jason yeah, that ship has sailed. Lets go get you the iphone. Here we go, come on hon. vo trade in any iphone in any condition for a new iphone 15 pro on us. Only on verizon. We live our lives on our homes fabrics. And though we come and go, our odors stay. 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Some villages on the southern part of israel now under hamas control. We have confirmed at least 22 dead and hundreds that have been wounded and injured. We also have Israeli Soldiers and israeli hostages that have been taken inside of the gaza strip. Joining me now for more from washington d. C. Is our nbc news capitol hill correspondent julie tsirkin. Yeah, hey katie. We have Reaction Point and from Members Of Congress. We have reaction pouring in from the former House Speaker kevin mccarthy. He tweeted just a short time ago saying that our strongest ally in the middle east is under attack. Make no mistake, israeli civilians are being slaughtered by Hamas Terrorists. We condemn these attacks, stand with our dear ally israel and support its right to defend itself in this war. I know you are just talking to congressman jim himes whos the top democrat on the House Intelligence Committee and he told you that the chaos domestically could certainly bring some barriers forward in terms of not only the u. S. Response to this but how the world sees the United States right now and this time of turmoil. Mccarthy of course is the former House Speaker. There is no speaker right now in the house, and the senate is also out all of next week. I am out to leadership, i am out to the members. Those are the individuals on the intelligence committees and leadership on the senate and house side who typically get classified briefings when situations like this arise. Of course it is a saturday morning and theyre not in this building. So it is not yet clear if any briefings have been given, what kind of information these lawmakers have received. And your conversation with jim himes he had said that he is just speculating on a number of these details. But this also comes during a very tough Inflection Point with Members Of Congress who recall a couple of months ago in july there was a visit from israeli president isaac herzog. He addressed the joint address of congress. He was invited by former House Speaker nancy pelosi as well as kevin mccarthy. It was on the heels of the 74th Anniversary of israels israels independence, and he had addressed the chamber to reignite a commitment of the u. S. And israeli partnership. You also remember that came at a point of political inflection in israel, with some progressives stepping out of the chamber and not attending because of some of the actions of Benjamin Netanyahus administration when it comes to their judicial and Supreme Court policy. But all in all, as im scanning for statement from lawmakers, everybody coming out so far and condemning these horrific attacks by hamas, saying that the u. S. Needs to reaffirm its partnership with israel, especially coming on the heels of this attack and what it will mean for stability in the middle east, especially as that saudi and israel peace steel is potentially in the works behind the scenes. A lot to watch for here, and of course this is a devastating and horrific attack. We have heard from our reporters on the ground all day talking about this, but we will certainly keep honoring it from the capital. Julie tsirkin, thank you so much for bringing us the latest from the United States capital. And i want to bring in now retired Lieutenant General steph twitty, who is the former Deputy Commander of the United States european command. General, i have to ask you, this is a pretty coordinated attack and i think coordinated is an understatement. We had an attack that was via land, air, and see. It is startling the level of coordination that occurred. We have heard from various professionals and experts so far sir that this happening and not being detected by intelligence is eyebrow raising at a minimum. What are your initial thoughts about what you have heard so far . Yeah, this is quite unusual. Normally the israelis would have the intelligence to be able to counter this pretty quickly. So the israelis have been caught off guard is quite surprising to me, and i will also, katie, is israeli allies such as ourselves and others normally feed Israel Intelligence from time to time, and so it appears that we, as well as others that got caught off guard with this particular attack as well. And as you know, this was synchronized. Its the first attack that i have seen from hamas that was able to pull this off from air, sea, and land in a synchronize, strategic manner in which they did. And they have the momentum right now because the israelis, they have about 150,000 soldiers in uniform and many of those soldiers are at checkpoints and elsewhere up on the gaza strip. They own the west bank and so forth. They were not prepared for this particular attack, and so they are going to have to call it reservist to shore this, up and its going to take them a few days to do that. And so the hamas has the momentum right now, and i know that netanyahu will get his arms around this, but in the meantime, hamas has the momentum. Hamas has th mo general, i wanna talk about a couple of things that are very concerning about what were hearing coming out of israel. One, Israeli Soldiers have been captured as well as israeli civilians that have been taken hostage. They have been taken into the gaza strip. We are also hearing that hamas is controlling some villages on the southern border of israel. Talk to our viewers about what type of response is going to have to occur by israel, by the Israeli Defense forces, by its mobilized civilians to be able to deal with those particular issues. The hostages as well as the soldiers that have been taken by hamas at this time. Yeah, this is a difficult situation for israel. Particularly when you Start Talking about hostages, and they are going to have to work the targets very carefully to ensure that as they go in and try to get this under control that they are also looking out for their own people now within gaza, because many of these hostages will probably be used as human shields. And so theyre going to have to watch out for that. The other thing is, very rarely have you seen hamas penetrate into israel. And so now they are in the towns and cities within israel. They will not be able to distinguish between whether they are israelis or whether they are palestinians, and so they are going to have to work through that, and it may become a urban battle within these cities that have been captured by hamas. There is no doubt here that hamas has had support from the outside world, and i suspect, i do not know, that iran helped plan this and iran proxy soldiers helped plan us as well. And so you may find that there are proxy soldiers that are mingled in with the palestinians as well. They are usually heavily armed, excuse me, by iran, and so you could perhaps see heavy armament that has already infiltrated into the cities that israel will have to deal with as well. Well there is also some discussion about the northern border of israel. We know that this attack was launched by hamas on the southern border in the Early Morning hours, but the northern border as iranbacked hezbollah on that side. From the military perspective, general, there are grave concerns, correct, for israel if something were to occur on the northern border of israel while israel is mobilizing in trying to deal with what is going on the southern border visavis the gaza strip. When you could also say not just the northern border, but you could see the gaza strip and the west bank, and now you have somewhat of a three front war that israel will have to deal with, and having been to the gaza strip, it is heavily armed by the israelis, and so i think that they can handle that piece. Over on the Golan Heights area, i think that they can handle that in terms of hezbollah, but over on the gaza strip is sort of where they take a little risk. And so i think that you will see more pouring from the gaza strip versus the Golan Heights area. I think that they will be able to have that piece. The primary focus will be the west bank and the gaza strip. General, i did want to ask the next followup question to you. Considering the universal opinion that this was a Surprise Attack and the fact that there could have been a massive Intelligence Failure on the part of israel, what are the continuing concerns now for that country to make sure that you can prevent further attacks happening about which maybe theyre not even aware of as of right now. Katie, let me just say this. I am surprised that the three least were surprised by this attack. If you think about it this past year, there is been a uptick in violence between the palestinians and israelis. Averaging about three a day attacks, and so this has been in a pot of Water Waiting to boil over for sometime, and it boiled over today. And so throughout this year with all of the attacks that have occurred, the israelis should have been thinking about a possible attack occurring somewhere here. And should have been prepared for it. Although they did receive intelligence on this, they should have been prepared for some type of response that is shown disinterest find min from the palestinians from quite some time over several issues. And here we go now in a situation where it is going to take the israelis quite some time to get it under control. And i think that you are talking about several days before they are able to get this under control. In terms of the intelligence piece here, i think that this will be a tremendous way to call for the israelis to do a after Action Review on what really happened in terms of intelligence here, and i actually think it will be a wake up call for many others that traditionally shared intelligence with the israelis. I also want to go back to not having an ambassador, a u. S. Ambassador there on the ground. And we do not have, at this point in time, a senior u. S. Defense official on the ground. Normally we have a one star general that is there. We have a colonel there now. We do not have a general there because of what is going on with the tuberville, senator tuberville not approving our generals to go forward in rank. And so that is where we are in terms of not having a Senior Defense official there as well. Defe retired lieutenant generl steph twitty, as always, your insight is invaluable. Thank you for joining us in providing that now. I appreciate it. Thank you, katie. And telling all of you, please stay with us, in messis breaking coverage continues after we take a quick break. Ick break. And i saved hundreds. With the money i saved, i started a dog walking business. Oh. [dog barks] no its just a bunny only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. My Mental Health was much better. But i struggled with uncontrollable movements called td, tardive dyskinesia. Td can be caused by some Mental Health meds. And its unlikely to improve without treatment. 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The Prime Minister of israel, Benjamin Netanyahu has declared that its country israel is in a state of war after a Surprise Attack, the largest attack on israel in decades occurring early this morning. Hamas launching more than 2000 rockets into the country. An invasion as it is being called within the country of israel. Paragliders as well as a Ground Offensive that was launched into the country of israel according to sources inside of israel, hospital just have been taken, israeli citizens, civilians, as well as soldiers have been captured by hamas and take it inside the gaza strip. We will bring in now msnbc news correspondent raf sanchez. Hes live in israel, been able to provide us with realtime information. Raf, what can you tell us that its been happening now since we last spoke about an hour ago . Well katie, heres the very latest. Israels Emergency Services are now kind confirming at least 40 israelis have been killed in todays attack so far. I will tell you, judging by the truly harrowing videos making the rounds on social media in this country that appeared to show the bodies of both shoulders and civilians. People here are bracing for what may be a much, much higher death toll to come. Katie, you may be able to hear the air defenses are going off above us right now, but the sirens arent wearing here. So i will keep talking. There is an israeli ambulance that is heading south. That is one of what has just been a stream of Emergency Vehicles heading in this direction. You may be able to see behind me katie the Israeli Security forces have set up a checkpoint here and over the hours that we have been here, they have been searching vehicles coming from the south, making sure that palestinian gunmen have not commandeered stolen israeli vehicles and tried to take this Carnage North of tel aviv or to jerusalem. At the same time, we have seen heavy traffic going in the other direction towards the south. A stream of Israeli Military vehicles. These are Israeli Ground troops who are heading to those towns and cities in the south where palestinian gunmen are still inside. I spoke to an Israeli Security official a little while ago. He said that at least five sites there are ongoing gun battles between Israeli Forces and palestinian gunmen. He says judging by the scale of the fighting, there must be, at minimum, hundreds of palestinian gunmen who crossed over into israel by land, by sea. And as you said, by air. Air in the form of paragliders and hang gliders, which is something that we have never seen before. This israeli official Security Official said that the correct way to describe what is happening in Southern Israel right now is an invasion. Now Prime Minister netanyahu spoke at the Israeli Cabinet a little earlier. He said that the Militant Groups amos, Islamic Jihad which control gaza will pay a massive price for the carnage that they have inflicted on israeli civilians today. We have already seen israeli fighter jets streaking over opposition here, heading to gaza, carrying out air strikes there. But this is only the beginning of what we expect will be a much, much larger israeli offensive. We should say that there are reports from inside of gaza of large scale casualties as a result of these israeli airstrikes. We dont yet have exact numbers. We do not know how many of the People Killed our Palestinian Militants and how many of them are civilians, but it is a extremely densely populated area. The socalled Military Wing of hamas says that they launched this attack today in retaliation for decades of humiliation and abuse suffered by the Palestinian People, but israel from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on downwards is clear that what is happening right now is terrorism on a very, very large scale. Katie . Ralph sanchez, thank you for bringing the latest. And again, i want to emphasize, please stay safe. That is the most important thing for us. Please stay safe. I will bring him out former Supreme Allied james to free. This admiral, we are just hearing the latest. You just heard it as well from raf sanchez on the ground live in israel. At least 40 israelis have now been confirmed dead. We are also hearing nbc news reporting that hamas militants are confirming that they have taken Israeli Soldiers hostage and have moved them to the gaza strip. Admiral, i have to ask you, the biggest concerns would be not only the israeli civilians that have been taken hostage, but the soldiers as well. What are your initial thoughts concerning this ongoing attack that is happening as we speak right now in israel. First of, all it is a Intelligence Failure on a scale that i am shocked to see on the part of the israelis who have one of the most vaunted Intelligence Services in the world and deservedly. When i was commander of u. S. European command, israel was part of my responsibility in the military. I know israel extremely well, ive been there dozens and dozens of times, interact with their military. This really is reminiscent of the Yarmulke Poor War 50 years ago, almost exactly when again these rallies were shocked by that war. Its a point, one Intelligence Failure and you have to take that apart in a very serious way. You also have to ask, where was u. S. Intelligence on this . I think you are going to hear more on both of those fronts shortly. Secondly, the point that i want to make for viewers is that to us as americans in some way these numbers sound kind of small, right . Like 20 People Killed or 40 People Killed. I would invite listeners to recognize that there are only 7 million jews in the state of israel. So population adjusted basis, when 20 israelis are killed or 20 hostages are captured that is like 1000 americans. And so if we get into 60 israeli killed, we are looking at truly a 9 11 level event and i think that that number is going to be well above 60. They may have 20, 40, 60, 80 hostages right now. And those are big numbers. This is a massive political, military, and diplomatic enormous movement that is going to come out of this over the next couple of days. Admiral, we have been talking over the last couple of hours that israel will not leave anyone behind. His route will insist Dead Or Alive to keep its people back. Considering the fact that there have been hostages taken, soldiers captured, hamas confirming the same, your thoughts about the continuing escalating response that we are going to see from israel . We do know that netanyahu has declared the Israeli Defense forces have mobilized as well as their civilians that are reservists. And so your thoughts on that . And so your th oughts o israel has a unique structure, almost unique in the world and that every single older israeli as teenagers and young adults, all of them except some who are granted religious exemptions are drafted into the military and spend a year training. That training has kept up to date. This is a society of 7 Million People who could put a couple of hundred thousand trained troops into combat in a relatively short period of time. Same with the air force, same with the navy. And so it is a very mobilized to society, much like switzerland or like finland who just joined the Nato Alliance for example. And so israel will respond to this. This is the kind of thing that rattles old ghosts in israel. Of not only yom kippur, the sevenday war, the surrounding and invasive part of this. And so look for israel to go high and hard into gaza. Yes, they will get those hostages back Dead Or Alive. And what the israelis are thinking about right now is how to keep this as a one front war as in gaza, and how to avoid hezbollah to the north, a terrorist organization, a creature of iran that unfortunately possesses 130,000 surface to surface missiles that could be unleashed. How to keep them out of the fight as well as looking to the west bank and other aspects of this where the Palestinian Authority is. I think israel will be successful, katie, in containing this around gaza. The iranians know what it would mean to pull into this and pull hezbollah in. The palestinian authorities similarly. This i think will come to be a brutal but it contained fight between hamas in the Israeli Defense forces, and that is going to be quite explosive over the next few days. Admiral of the United States Defense Secretary austin has says that the pentagon will work to ensure that the pentagon has quote, what it needs to defend itself. That statement just been released by reuters by the United States Defense Secretary austin. Admiral, what would that look like in terms of aid from the United States . In terms of aid fro first, as again is a question that you have to ask is intelligence activity, satellite imagery, communications monitoring. The israelis clearly need better intelligence. That is something that typically we are in a position to provide. Secondly, air defense. You were talking earlier about iron dome, replenishing the stocks of air Defense Systems is going to be pretty important i think over the next couple of days. Thirdly, special forces, coordination, talking to the israelis, sharing information tactics, techniques, procedures. We do quite a bit of that already. We run air defense exercises together frequently. I could see an instance where if hamas continues to try and use naval assets, elements of the u. S. Six fleet could move to the Eastern Mediterranean and help our israeli partners, as well katy as conventional military ammunition stocks. Fortunately, a great deal of that is already in israel. We have place those for exactly this kind of contingency. Those stocks can be opened up, and it would not be affected by what is happening for example in ukraine where we are helping our ukrainian partners. These are distinct Military Stocks that are designated for israel or largely in israel. Those can be opened up and provided to our israeli partners. Bottom line, lloyd austin, youre going to hear from every level of the administration. I happen to be in sea island, georgia. The direct georgia cia bill burns will be joining us this evening for a big conference, Annual Conference by the cipher brief group. And i think you are going to hear a fullthroated defense of israel at this point. We are going to do everything necessary for them to thwart this attack. Retired admiral james to read us, thank you so much for your insight and for joining us and giving us invaluable information. I appreciate you. And for those of you who are following along, we are continue our coverage of the Breaking News. Were gonna take a quick break and we will be right back. When it comes to your hair, ingredients matter. Thats why Herbal Essences is packed with naturally derived Plant Ingredients you love, and none of the stuff you dont. Our sulfatefree collections smell incredible. And leave your Hair Touchably soft and smooth. Herbal essences if we want a more viable future for our kids, we need to find more sustainable ways of doing things. Americas plastic makers are investing billions of dollars in new technologies and creating Plastic Products that are more recyclable. Durable. And dependable. Our goal is a cleaner, healthier planet for generations to come. For a better tomorrow, were focused on making plastics better today. Returning him now, msnbc has continuing coverage of the Breaking News out of the country of israel. Joining me now is nbc News White House correspondent allie raffa. She has more on the latest. Ali, give us the latest from the white house please. Well katie were hearing from white house officials that President Biden has been informed on the unprecedented unfolding situation in israel and we have just in the last hour a new statement from the National Security Council Spokesperson that says, quote, the United States unequivocally condemns the unprovoked attacks by Hamas Terrorists against israeli civilians. There is never any justification for terrorism. We stand firmly with the government and people of israel. We also know the National Security adviser Jake Sullivan has spoken with his israeli counterpart. And white house Officials Say that senior staff worked and monitor this overnight here at the white house, and of course it is important to mentioned the backdrop that this comes against, katie. We know that israel is a longtime ally, a very strong ally of the United States. It is our closest ally in the middle east, and it is a country that shares the same Democratic Values as our country, and militarily, we know that israel is the top recipient of u. S. Military aid. And the president has come under fire and pressure from members of both parties to adjust that number to not give as much aid. And so how this impacts, how this conflict if at all in plaques that number is going to be something to watch moving forward. As of now, white house Officials Say that no request has been made by israel for more u. S. Aid. And then you think just broadly, as far as a Foreign Policy perspective, in the instability in this region raises the risk of more instability and neighboring middle eastern countries. You have to think that this is something that u. S. Officials, white house officials are considering when they talk about what their next steps are going to be here. We also have a new statement from the Foreign Ministry of saudi arabia, of quote notably that is a country that the Biden Administration has been weighing on on the verge of green on a defense pact that they come under criticism for doing that. And the saudi Foreign Ministry says, in part quote in the statement that they are closely following these developments. That they call for an immediate halt to the escalation between both sides and so as we continue to see this reaction for in this morning from so many parties, we are monitoring the white house especially whether the president will speak and give us a direct answer to all of this himself. Allie raffa, as always thank you for bringing us all the latest. From all this Breaking News out of the country of israel, that does it for me this morning. I want to thank you for staying with us. We started this live coverage at seven a. M. I will be back here tomorrow morning at 8 am eastern, but my friend ali velshi is going to pick up msnbcs breaking News Coverage after a quick break. Ckre bak this new charmin ultra soft smooth tear is soooo soft and soo smooth. New charmin ultra soft smooth tear has wavy perforations that tear so much better for a smooth more enjoyable go. Charmin, enjoy the go. Tourists tourists that turn into scientists. Tourists taking photos that are analyzed by ai. So researchers can help life underwater flourish. [city ambience sounds] [car screech] [car door slam] [camera shutter sfx] introducing neds plaque psoriasis. [camera shutter sfx] he thinks his flaky, red patches are all people see. Otezla is the 1 prescribed pill to treat plaque psoriasis. [ned . ] it can help you get clearer skin and reduce itching and flaking. With no routine blood tests required. Doctors have been prescribing it for nearly a decade. Otezla is also approved to treat psoriatic arthritis. 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